Description
News media in different regions generate distinct portrayals of terrorism, influenced by their respective media systems and ideological positions. Given the extensive state control over China’s news media, encompassing both structure and ideological orientation, this research posits that the representation of the ‘Islamic State’ in Chinese media is distinctly different from Western depictions, reflective of the unique role of news in a communist context. Thus, this study specifically addresses the gap in understanding how the ‘Islamic State’ is depicted in the Chinese media landscape, governed by a communist regime.
Three central questions guide this research: 1) How has the representation of the 'Islamic State' in Chinese state media evolved from 2014 to 2019? 2) What discursive strategies are employed by these media to shape the narrative around the 'Islamic State'? 3) To what extent do these portrayals align with China's national interests and policy goals, both domestically and internationally?
The methodological framework hinges on an instrumental application of discourse analysis, scrutinizing the content disseminated by Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television (CCTV), the central-level media with exclusive rights to international news coverage. It combines corpus-based critical discourse analysis for textual content and visual discourse analysis for imagery, aiming to elucidate the social ideologies underlying these representations.
This research aspires to shed light on the complex dynamics by which Chinese state media frames and disseminates the narrative of terrorism, thereby contributing empirically to the discourse on media representation within a communist context. Its significance extends to journalism, political science, and discourse studies.
